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PAV EDITORIAL Vol. 31 June 2010
Looking Beyond Africa's Month Long Euphoria
By Ajong Mbapndah L and Fidelis Achenjang
It is the biggest sports event in the world. The world football governing body organized FIFA world Cup. It takes place only once every four years and it is hosted this for the first time on African soil by South Africa. Thousands of people the world over are in the country of the legendary Nelson Mandela for the event and billions are glued to their television sets all over the world watching the momentous event. In a world going rogue with ever growing challenges few are events which unite the human race as football. So important is the event that leaders of countries big and small, wishing to apply for hosting rights have to personally champion for their bids. It is an event so big that leaders have to shelve pressing agendas to show up in South Africa for the opening ceremony, that USA Vice President Joe Biden has to be in South Africa for the opening game of his country. It is a very momentous event, Africa's moment and there is every reason to celebrate and be proud that the continent has attained another milestone by joining the rest of the world in boasting of having hosted with brio we add thus far, the greatest sporting event on planet earth. But in months’ time when the event ends what next? This is a question worth asking considering the myriad of problems that Africa.
With a population of about a billion, and vast resources, Africa has painfully continued to trail the world in terms of development. With growing cognizance of its potentials, leadership lacking in vision, competence and purpose has continued to be the undoing of the continent. Faced with all the hype generated by the world cup, someone who knows little or nothing about the continent may be tempted to do some research and the result? A continent where a majority wallows in poverty in the middle of incredible natural resources, a continent with leaders who are not monarchs still maintaining a vicious iron-like grip in power for multiple decades, a continent where Somalis have to thrive as pirates for a living, a continent where Nigerians have to excel in kidnappings for ransoms as a means of survival, a continent where a leader like Obiang Nguema incapable of putting the new found vast oil wealth at the service of development or even distribution, prefers to be glorified with a prize of sorts to UNESCO when he gets tired of looting.For the impatient ones the complexities may be all about Africa, a continent doomed to eternal poverty and damnation. To the curious, beyond these appalling short comings lie signs of a giant slowly but surely getting on its feet, Africa with its future in its grasps to paraphrase the World Bank Vice President for Africa Obiageli K. Ezekwesili. At a meeting upon his return from South Africa, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan vowed to tackle with greater vigor the security lapses with rampant kidnappings especially in the Niger Delta Region of the country. These are just the important lessons or inspirations that should be drawn from the world cup. Ahead of the tournament, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan who now serves as Chair of the Africa Progress Panel and the Ivorian born world class super star listed by Time Magazine amongst the 100 most influential people in the world Didier Drogba launched Scoring for Africa. Dubbed an Alternative Guide to the World Cup, the widely respected and influential duo used the initiative to call for the spirit of fairness embodied by the World Cup to be applied broadly to continent’s relations with the rest of the world.
The guide highlights that although African nations have a fair playing field when it comes to football; this is not the case when it comes to compete internationally on issues such as trade or the fight against climate change.
For example, the report shows that:
· For Nigeria v Argentina: The average life expectancy in Nigeria is 48 years, compared to 75 years in Argentina.
· For Côte d’Ivoire v Brazil: Women in Côte d’Ivoire are eight times more likely to die as a result of child birth than their Brazilian counterparts.
· For Japan v Cameroon: Japan has donated $93.6 billion in ODA whilst Cameroon has received $5.2 net ODA.
· For South Africa v France: In South Africa 44.5% of parliamentarians (in the lower or single house) are women, compared to 18.9% in France.
· For Algeria v USA: Algeria is contributing only 0.32% to the world’s yearly CO2 emissions, while the USA contributes nearly 16%, making it the world’s second largest carbon emitter after China.
“We passionately believe that fair play should not be limited to the way countries play, run and score against each other, but also the way they do business and politics with each other; that the spirit of the World Cup should extend into countries’ economic and political relations; and that the celebration of our common humanity should not be limited to one month every four years”. Kofi Annan and Didier Drogba believe.
For example, the report shows that:
· For Nigeria v Argentina: The average life expectancy in Nigeria is 48 years, compared to 75 years in Argentina.
· For Côte d’Ivoire v Brazil: Women in Côte d’Ivoire are eight times more likely to die as a result of child birth than their Brazilian counterparts.
· For Japan v Cameroon: Japan has donated $93.6 billion in ODA whilst Cameroon has received $5.2 net ODA.
· For South Africa v France: In South Africa 44.5% of parliamentarians (in the lower or single house) are women, compared to 18.9% in France.
· For Algeria v USA: Algeria is contributing only 0.32% to the world’s yearly CO2 emissions, while the USA contributes nearly 16%, making it the world’s second largest carbon emitter after China.
“We passionately believe that fair play should not be limited to the way countries play, run and score against each other, but also the way they do business and politics with each other; that the spirit of the World Cup should extend into countries’ economic and political relations; and that the celebration of our common humanity should not be limited to one month every four years”. Kofi Annan and Didier Drogba believe.
Both figures hope that as well as celebrating the World Cup, ‘Scoring for Africa’ makes football fans around the world aware of another dimension to the tournament, and ensures that the outpouring of goodwill for the continent around the games is channeled towards a fairer world over the long term. Charity we however caution must begin from home. Its hard for the rest of the world to help Africa when Africans are reluctant to help themselves when they can or when they get the opportunity. Of what use is more aid when the aid that is there is siphoned by corrupt and unscrupulous leaders instead of serving for the development needs of the people? No one needs to remind Africans on the need for transparent and accountable leaderships, respect for human rights, free fair and democratic elections, rule of law et al. These and more will help to build a just and equitable society, one with equal opportunity for all, one which encourages hard work and recognizes merit, and one where the huge natural and human resources of the continent will be put at the service of development. Only through this can the continent sustain the kind of euphoria that has engulfed the entire continent with the world cup, an event which sadly lasts only for a month and when the mirage ends?
South Africa must be lauded for doing a brilliant job in hosting the tournament. Impeccable infrastructure, good transportation, great lodging facilities, airports that match world standards!!! These infrastructures did not show up overnight. There came as a result meticulous planning and sound management. The country has proved itself to be a standard bearer of democracy in the continent since the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and the beginning of majority black rule in 1992. The first post apartheid President Nelson Mandela served just a single term despite the opportunity of an easy re-election, his successor Thabo Mbeki who alongside Mandela and Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu had his second term cut short when he bowed to a popular decision of the ruling African National Congress. We mention this because democracy remains a sine qua non for African to speed up its development process. Only through a democracy can accountable leadership be guaranteed, only through democracy will leaders be able to know there are servants and not masters, only through a democracy will leaders in the continent know they owe their presence in power to the popular will of the people, and only in a democracy can people reward leaders who live up to expectations with additional terms of office or sanction their incompetence by voting them out in free and fair elections.
The hospitality that the world has witnessed at the world cup is typical of Africans. The touristic attractions found in South in Africa pale in comparison to what the rest of the continent has to show. The business potentials there are present in the rest of Africa as well. With the right political climate the rest of the world will be willing to do business with and in Africa. Already the continent is attracting increasing attention and interests not only from traditional partners like Europe and China but also the USA, India, South Korea, Japan, Iran whose controversial President visited the continent recently and Pakistan whose Prime Minister held a meeting with African Ambassadors not long ago as a prelude for his country's foray into Africa. As interesting as these developments are, is the continent ready to make the best of all these overtures from the rest of world? Not so sure with the bulk of selfish and inept leaderships that still burden many African countries. The potential for turning things around is however there and very strong.
Far from an end, the successful organization of the 2010 world cup should mark the beginning of a new consciousness on the possibilities and potentials of the continent. Besides the developed nature of countries which have hosted modern day world cups, one also realizes that a common thread that cuts across almost all of them is that there are working democracies. From Spain in 1992, to Mexico in 1986, to Italy in 1990,to the USA in 1994,to France in 1998, South Korea and Japan in 2002, Germany in 2006 and now South Africa democracy is a common link. This may be far from a coincidence. The International Football Federation makes big business out of the world cup, but business interests alone will not force it to grant hosting rights to a country like North Korea, Iran, or Africa's own Equatorial Guinea for instance where censorship excels and freedoms are limited. It has been fun and off the pitch but another lasting legacy from the historic event should be that Africa and Africans learned a lesson that for it to be stand up to the challenges of a rapidly evolving and increasingly competitive world it must put its act together. If African leaders are unwilling or reluctant to buckle up up because of their selfish designs, then the African people must take charge in ensuring that the continent effectively gets back on track so that more of the month long euphoria can be experienced in the future over and over again.
